One Way to Get More Women on Boards
Allana Akhtar, USA Today
The dearth of women on corporate boards is a problem Sukhinder Singh Cassidy hopes to solve. She’s the founder of theBoardlist, a site designed to make it easy for tech companies of all sizes to find well-qualified women for their boards and to help female executives get board-level opportunities. As the CEO of Joyus, a tech startup, and a former Google executive, Cassidy is more than familiar with the issues facing women who want to climb the corporate ladder. And, she’s dedicated to turning the top tiers of companies into more inclusive spaces. “These are all highly qualified women who come with diverse experiences — the No. 1 thing CEOs are looking for,” Cassidy said during an insightful accompanying podcast interview with USA Today.
She Swam to Escape Syria. Now She’ll Swim in Rio.
Charly Wilder, The New York Times
The 2016 Summer Olympics have been rife with controversy — concerns over the spread of the Zika virus and reports of contaminated water are just a few of the problems casting shadows over the start of the Games. But athletes like Olympic swimmer Yusra Mardini continue to inspire us. A Syrian refugee, Mardini was swimming for her life — and to save the lives of others — in the Mediterranean Sea just one year ago. Today, she’s part of the first-ever team of stateless refugees, led by the groundbreaking female marathoner Tegla Loroupe, to compete under the Olympic flag. Despite years of unimaginable hardships, Mardini has stayed strong and positive. She’s channeling the pain of her struggles to achieve a goal of personal-best swim times in this year’s Olympics. “I remember everything, of course,” she says. “I never forget. But it’s the thing that’s pushing me actually to do more and more.”
‘Black Beauty Has a Place Here’: Brazilian Women Embrace Hair’s Curls and Kinks
Zoe Sullivan and Ana Terra Athayde, The Guardian
The Olympics has thrust Brazil into the international spotlight — and much the attention has been on its national struggles. This article and video package, however, focuses on the empowering trend of black women embracing their natural beauty. Cassia Marinho, who owns a hair salon in Rio de Janeiro, says that she always encourages pride in her clients. “In our salon, there has always been a mission to strengthen self-esteem and the idea of black beauty,” she told Sullivan. “The first thing I say to my clients is: Your hair is pretty. You don’t need to use a chemical process.” This article puts this reclaiming of curls and kinks into the context of Brazil’s racial inequities, and explains how hair has been used as a political statement. The accompanying video, meanwhile, offers levity by spotlighting women who embrace and celebrate their looks.
Why Straight Women Are Marrying Each Other
Abigail Haworth, Marie Claire
In the Kurya tribe of Nyamongo, a village in northern Tanzania, an estimated 10 to 15 percent of all households are run by women who are married to one another. These are not lesbian couples, however — in fact, homosexuality is considered a sin by the cattle-farming tribe. Rather, these women are entering into marriages in bids to maintain possession of their land and homes and exert control over their bodies. Tribal rules allow for women who are widowed to take wives, who can have sex with men of their choosing and bear male heirs able to inherit their properties. Though they do not always result in perfect unions, these marriages still offer women “more power and freedom,” says Dinna Maningo, a reporter with a Tanzanian newspaper who spoke with Haworth. “It combines all the benefits of a stable home with the ability to choose their own male sexual partners.”
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